Synopsis: Every first and third Wednesday of the month, The Straits Times helps you make sense of health matters that affect you.

Palliative care is in the spotlight of late, with the authorities aiming to boost support in the sector to enable more people to make the most of the time they have left. It is an approach that aims to help a person living with a life-threatening illness to cope not only with the physical symptoms, but also other concerns, such as those about the inevitability of death. 

In this episode, ST senior health correspondent Joyce Teo hosts Clinical Associate Professor Alethea Yee, a senior consultant from the Division of Supportive & Palliative Care at the National Cancer Centre Singapore. She was the head of the division before she was seconded to Assisi Hospice to be the Clinical Director in 2018. Dr Yee is also the deputy head of the SingHealth Duke-NUS Supportive & Palliative Care Centre as well as the education director of the Lien Centre for Palliative Care at Duke-NUS.

Highlights (click/tap above):

2:04 How is palliative care different from hospice care and end-of-life care?

4:34 Distressing end-of-life scenarios without palliative care; how to access palliative care

10:10 What comes next after referral to palliative care; addressing misconceptions

13:14 Story of a palliative care patient fulfilling her dreams

17:21 Difference between general practitioners and specialist palliative care 

Listen to Health Check Ep 90: What to expect when caring for an end-of-life patient at home: https://omny.fm/shows/health-check-1/health-check-episode-90

Listen to Health Check Ep 89: What can be done to help more end-of-life patients fulfil their wish of dying at home?: https://omny.fm/shows/health-check-1/what-can-be-done-to-help-more-end-of-life-patients

Listen to In Your Opinion Ep 9: Let’s talk about death and end-of-life plans: https://omny.fm/shows/in-your-opinion/let-s-talk-about-death

Produced by: Joyce Teo (joyceteo@sph.com.sg), Ernest Luis, Penelope Lee and Eden Soh

Edited by: Eden Soh

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